Smiling to John, she replies "Well, seems you and your companion there have good taste. This is a nation rich in culture and goods to offer the world. I'll consider your offer of expansion to the south."
Striding back to her desk with the letter, she pulls out a vial of crimson wax. Melting a bit of it to drop on the letter, she stamps it with her ring. Handing the letter back to John, she announces "I Ms Alexei Kartov of the noble blood of the Jadwiga, native to Irissen, keeper of the sacred Jeweled Challice of Baba Yaga, hereby approve your petition to trade within these realms."
"As for your desires to venture inland, I do not have the inclination to grant that petition. Though it's within my rights to do much, as I'm not the current governor of this region, I wouldn't dare overstep. You'll wish to speak with the Baroness Nadya."
"Thank you sir dwarf for the acknowledgement. It's my experience the dwarven populace have a keen eye for such things. Unless you wish to do some trading in goods now, I must ask you to go about your business as I do have things that need tending." Turning back to John, the woman offers a slight curtsy adding "It's been a pleasure."
Haltani looks to John, new respect in her eyes. "My do you have a honeyed tongue! I will bid you farewell for now. As you venture to speak with the baroness, I have other tasks to attend to in Dalun. I would request you let her know 'Haltani sends her regards'. I'll meet up with you after."
As you approach, the form a line between you and the woman. One of them speaks forcefully when you are near.
"Who dares approach the Baroness without summons? Lay down your arms and speak!"
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With another charming smile back at Haltani, "thank you very much, sometimes I hit on exactly the right thing to say."
When the guards issue their challenge John immediately puts his hands up in a gesture to indicate he means no harm, ”our greatest apologies. Me merely seek an audience with her grace, Baroness Nadya. We were sent here by Ms Alexei Kartov of the noble blood of the Jadwiga, native to Irissen, keeper of the sacred Jeweled Challice of Baba Yaga.” He bows as he speaks of Alexei Kartov.
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Faliana walks beside the group, trying to keep the aloof and mysterious air of a spirit whisperer about her.
When the group starts approaching the guards, but before they react and form a barrier, Faliana stops and starts to sedately take off her pack, and the two polearms strapped to it. She sets them down. Next she casually unwinds and removes her bladed head scarf, folds it and sets it on the bag. She then removes her longspear from its cloth sling across her back and leans it against her bag. Liberated from her weapons, she finally moves up to the rest of the group, eyes lidded and a knowing smile on her face.
"Apologies for our rude approach, we mean no harm. We are travelers to this fair town and don't know the proper channels for obtaining an audience with her grace, the Baroness. If you'd find the mercy to forgive us this faux-pas, we also come bearing greetings from a 'Haltani.'"
The woman and the guards eye your group wearily. "Lay down your arms, now!" insists the guard.
Turning her head quickly to Faliana at the mention of Haltani, she visibly relaxes. With the slightest of motions to the guards, they spread out a bit to give you some space.
Speaking up, in a stern but soft voice, the woman advises "I must insist you lay down your arms as my lieutenant requested. However, I will here what you wish to say. From your introduction, it sounds as though you have come to my lovely realm for trade. Any of you from Saarbotten or Ulfen?"
With the final question, her eyes narrow as she studies your reactions intently.
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John slowly lowers his hands and carefully fishes out a small dagger, laying it on the ground. He stands up and pulls out the stamped letter, holding it out to the closest guard. "Thank you for taking the time to speak with us today. This is our stamped letter of trade. We wish to travel inland. None of my companions are from Saarbotten or Ulfen."
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Syndra steps forward at the mention of Ulfen. [b]"I've noticed in my journey that there seems to be much suspicion between the people of Dalun, and the people of Ulfen. Is there something that we should know about going on between these two peoples, governments, or lands? All this suspicion for what?"[/b[
She pulls her crossbow off of her back, and takes the dagger from her belt, but does not relive herself of her pouches containing her reagent, not her wrist sheaths with her wands.
Nodding to John, she gives another minuscule motion to the guards now that you are unarmed. The platoon gives you all some space, though keeping a watchful eye on the baroness.
Glancing at the letter, she smiles. "I see you spoke with my cousin. She doesn't have some nice jewels. Glad to hear sir."
Turning to Syndra, she frowns. "There are tensions between our nations. They have spies everywhere, so we must stay vigilante. Some day, one of our nations will wipe out the other two....or we'll find peace."
"As for taking the time to speak with you lot, it's not unheard of, though such intrusions are unusual. You wish to travel inland? As you're not from here, I must caution you the lands of Irissen are quite unforgiving out of the city. A native could even get hurt out there. What is it you are looking for that can't be found here? Is it just curiosity?"
Pausing a moment, the woman rubs her chin, 'They did bring word from Haltani...'
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Faliana gently gestures John over to her and whispers in his ear, "If she presses us for further details, we could suggest it's a test run of our product. If five people not native to such frozen lands can leave here with minimal supplies and survive for a week or two, it would surely attract people's attention, no? But I don't think I can make it a convincing lie, especially as Sasha is liable to pipe up if I have to blatantly lie any further."
She then turns back to the baroness, "All of our group are consummate professionals and are ready and willing to face the risks ahead. You have no need to worry about us."
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Syndra steps forward "Baroness Nadya, I apologize for the deception. The truth is that we are pathfinders that were sent here on a mission from Venture-Captain Calisro Beanery in Kalsguard. Although I cannot tell you the exact nature of this business, I assure you that we mean you no harm. We would prefer that there was peace between the nations here, but we much continue our mission nonetheless. We present an opportunity for diplomatic relationships between your peoples and those of Kalguard as well as the trust of the Pathfinders. However we must make haste."
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Faliana swings around and stares at the elf, her mouth agape. After a few seconds frozen in place like that her left eye starts to twitch and a faint nervous laugh starts to emanate from her mouth. It grows in intensity until it reaches a full bellyache. She soon settles down and wipes a few tears from her eyes.
With a few nervous chuckles here and there, she continues to say, "I guess there's no reason to hide it any further, we are Pathfinders on a mission to hopefully find an old relic before our competition does, as they will likely use it to harm everyone on Galarion, Irrisen included. But developing diplomatic ties as well is something that all of us would love to see happen. And if you are truly interested in commerce, there are hundreds of people in the Society who would jump at the chance." Her speech finished she then looks to one side and in a small voice says, "And shut it Sasha, I do not need to hear any 'told you so's!"
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John stares blankly at his teammate for the briefest of seconds before opening his mouth to speak frankly, "Baroness Nadya, we were warned to be wary of divulging our allegiances and chose to attempt discretion. My compatriot obviously trusts you and we wish to gain your assistance. All we ask is your permission to travel inland and complete our mission. I personally believe that our organization can be incredibly useful to you now and in the future."
Nodding as each speak in turn, she replies to the dwarf "Winter wolves are common in these parts, would be useful to have a stocky lad to protect those two." With a slight motion to the elf and John.
"You need not worry half-breed. I wouldn't worry about outsiders, aside from my reputation." she answers with a wink.
As Syndra comes clean as to your affiliations, the woman's features harden. Her guards jump to action, but stop as she holds up a single finger. Motionless as time passes, the guards stay where they are looking to each other and back to her.
Finally, she speaks "Does Haltani know of your affiliation with...with that cult?"
Glaring at each of you, she continues "Tell you what I shall do. I'll give you permission to go as far as five miles inland from the city. You have four days to return here and prove you haven't pathfinder'd my realm. Haltani should be more cautious who she calls a friend."
Looking back to the human man, she adds "Perhaps we can learn to trust each other. We shall see. Prove me wrong here."
Without another word, she turns and heads to the far side of the 'garden'. A group of guards immediately approach you and escort you off the grounds.
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"Thank you for not killing us," the stocky dwarf breathes hurriedly as the Baroness leaves.
Khardum grumbles under his breath as they collect their weapons and then says, "My personal vote is that you don't speak to any more Irriseni unless Peach-face John is mute, unconscious, or dead. No. Not even if he's mute because he could probably charm anyone with his eyes alone better than whatever that was back there. I thought wizards were supposed to know things. Like how much trouble the Black Lodge caused in Irrisen."
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"Maybe you weren't paying attention bearded man, but the Dalrun and the Ulfren are obviously not getting along. This could be a massive opportunity for trade with the south, to create diplomatic relationships with the Pathfinders which could significantly help future ventures and alliances here, and even possibly repaid diplomatic ties with the Ulfren. Surely someone as lawful as you claim to be should know that lying your way through can only lead to ore despair. Think for a moment what happens when we return, true to our word, and possibly even have the opportunity to add to the ranks of the Pathfinders. But you're probably too think skulled to think of any of that." She snips at the dwarf.
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John swipes his dagger off the ground, tucking it into his belt. He turns and walks out of the garden. "Well, we have four days and a difficult task ahead to avoid causing more distrust of our fine organization. I suggest we put our differences aside and work together." With a curt smile he heads to meet Haltani.
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"I agree with Khardum, that was not a choice to make on your own. And though there may be an opportunity here, our current task is to bring an ancient artifact out of Irrisen, exactly the reason we are not welcome here. Following our orders is our primary concern here, not following the whims of some witch-cult."
Rerois sighs. "Keeping the Baroness happy while smuggling a powerful magic relic out from under her nose is not going to be easy. Though if we manage it we should definitely get noticed by the Decemvirate. For better or worse."
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Syndra replies "Are you sure that the cold has not gotten to you? The venture captain told us "The Society is not especially welcome in Irises, so try to keep what friends we have, and if you can, make new ones." This is exactly what I am working on doing, and lying to the Baroness is no way to start. Perhaps I was wrong to think that you followed some sort of ethics or moral code. Nevertheless, John happens to be right. We must work together to find this artifact."
Syndra follows John, discreetly using one of her wands before heading out of the town.
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Rerois points a finger in Syndra's face. "Say those words again, and you'll need new friends in Irrisen. Explore, report, cooperate, not sell out your comrades to a witch. I shouldn't need to explain that to someone who's been in longer than me." He mounts his horse and spurs him on, leaving the wizard behind John.
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"I'm not the one acting at cross purposes," the dwarf defends himself to John.
When Syndra goes off on Rerois, Khardum stops walking with a grunt. "You want to debate morality? Fine. You ever read Lessons of the Father? No, you couldn't have because you wouldn't even be able to lift the stone cover. So don't be acting like you know anything about my sense of right and wrong.
"You all are my people--even you--and I gave my word to carry out this mission and keep you all safe. If that means letting John's tongue wag a little sideways or keep my mouth shut about my social affiliations, that's alright with me and my gods. It's not like I'm trying to sneak in to murder some poor witch.
"But you don't have half a leg to stand on when you risk all these people's lives," Khardum gestures at the companions, "on an overconfident whim or hunch and not but a few days ago were ready to faulting murder some innocent border patrol for doing its cracking job because it slowed you down."
The dwarf spits to the side and grumbles, "Throw that honesty is the best policy, where's your moral compass, pablum at me?"
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Faliana gives a broad, if strained, smile to the baroness after she grants them the permission to move further inland. "We will strive to do our best to earn your trust and not 'Pathfinder' your land." With this she gives a graceful and formal bow, turns a walks away. When she is out of ear shot she gives a deep sigh of relief and sharply turns to face Syndra. several different shades of anger and frustration flicker around her face before she lets her breath go in one explosive burst and looks to one side a thoughtful look in her eyes. She then listens to the rest of the group arguing with the elf as she gathers her gear and makes sure everything is in place. After Khardum's outburst she says, "Alright everyone here need to calm down. We can have this out over the campfire tonight, but for right now people's tempers are too high to get anything done and we are in the middle of town and people are watching." She then ushers them after John, in search of Haltani.
Once clear of the gates, guards, and sight, Faliana has the group stop for a moment. She then speaks in a low voice, "I feel we need to clear the air before we can move any further. First, Haltani, if you're curious about what happened, Syndra unexpectedly revealed our affiliations to the Baroness, which angered many of us. After the baroness was gracious enough to grant us permission to go further, there were a few words exchanged." With this she gives a short sigh.
A moment later, she continues with a hint of iron in her voice, "Now for the important part, Syndra, I can understand where you are coming from and why you did that. The baroness did seem to trust Haltani, Haltani has been traveling with us despite our ties to the Society and building better relations here would be a dream come true. But one of the three most important things for a Pathfinder is to co-operate. Moving unilaterally like that is not co-operative and is not very helpful. If you feel lying to people is not going to help our case or is violating your or our codes of ethics say, something earlier, like when John asked if we were okay with the cover-story we had started creating. This however I can forgive and forget, as it turned out alright in the end."
After a seconds pause she moves on her voice a near freezing steel rod. "The more damnable thing, in my eyes, is what you said afterwards. Calling our moralities into question is a low-blow and, personally, rather rash, especially to a proud Chelaxian, such as Rerois. It would be best if you apologized."
With this said, she rounds on Khardum and Rerois. "Now mind you, in my eyes, everyone else isn't blameless, either. Khardum said some insulting things himself, Syndra is a part of our group and has as much a say in conversations and decisions as the rest of us. And just because an action appears stupid to you it doesn't mean it hasn't been given careful deliberation. And Rerois, please try to understand she had the groups best interests in mind and try to forgive Syndra her words, I highly doubt she truly meant them."
Faliana finally gives the whole group one last glance, her age showing plainly on her face. With a smile she says, "I hope we can set this behind us and move on as one group from here on out. If we can't, I think I will wait for you at the boat, because we are not going to be able to find this thing much less get it back here in four days. Now what say you? Is it forgotten? Then let's get moving already!"
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He rubs his face with his thick-fingered hand. "I don't know how you figured she trusted Haltani. Must have been reading her mind."
"Forgotten? Have you ever met a dwarf? But I gave my word to keep everyone safe."
Catching up with you at the edge of town, Haltani spies the hurried demeanor of Faliana. Raising an eyebrow, she quietly leads you out of the city.
Her eyes wide at the explanation, she inquires "Well, that's quite a story. I hope we're all ready to continue?" Pausing for the groups affirmation, she looks around the region. Exiting a forest of evergreens bordering Dalun, before you stands a vast snowy plain. With Khardum assisting Haltani you manage to stumble upon you destination in approximately three hours of travel.
1) DC 15
2) DC 16
3) DC 17
As the vast, snowy plains give way to rugged hills, the ground becomes hard and icy. An enormous rocky mound protrudes from the ground, covered in ice and snow. On the northeast side of the mound, thick walls of ice cascade down the side of the hill like a miniature glacier. Two shapeless stone monoliths stand near the base of the mound.
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Khardum trudges through the snow, his snowshoes making it easier for him to navigate the icy terrain. Ice forms on his beard and tiny icicles dangle from his eyebrows even in the short time it takes for them to reach the archaeological site. Despite the cold, his cheeks and brow remain a healthy, ruddy tone.
"Hey! There's worked stone here!" the dwarf shouts to the others, his breath turning to a thick white mist with each word. He tests the ice with a hammer blow.
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Rerois still ignores Syndra for the moment while the discussion is going on. "True, she is part of our team, and has a say in our plans and discussions. Our plans being the operative part, haring off on her own will help none of us." He crosses his arms. "Her words are on her, whether they were meant or not is not for me to decide."
Rerois trots along on Swift Grey, frowning at the cold. "Near as cold as Cocytus itself."
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Faliana gives a short sigh, "Forget, forgive, or just acting like it never happened, it doesn't matter. But Haltani's right we should be moving."
Faliana shivers visibly in the cold, as she tries to stay warm. She mumbles under her breath about hot food, warm drinks and how she thought two different outfits would be enough as ice forms over her bag, her scarf, and her face.
She spends most of the second hour skiing ahead and then back to the group using the extra body heat to stay warm. This soon backfires as she runs out of energy and slows down and her sweat starts freezing. Her clothing starts crackling and soon she is barely able to move them beyond the basic movements to keep going. She gets up to the monoliths visibly unwell and notices something as she tries to force her frozen clothing to allow her to point, she collapses and starts bleeding from her shoulder, her skin cut by the frozen parts of her outfit.
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After words are exchanged outside our town, but before stepping out in the cold, Syndra pulls out her want of EE and with a quick flick of her wrist points it towards Faliana.
After doing so, she stores the wand away, and follows the rest of the group engaging in conversation with Haltani on their way further inland. It does not appear that she is at all bothered by the cold even though she wears only the robes that she started the adventure with.
"Haltani, I've noticed some interesting things along our journey together. First you are introduced as our guide from a Pathfinder Venture Captain, which leads me to believe that you have some experience with the Pathfinders. You huddled in the back of the boat when confronted by the Ulfen "guards", and you assisted us with gaining access to the Baroness. The Baroness does not seem to have a favorable opinion of the Pathfinders, but seems to know you quite well. I suspect that there is more to you than meets the eyes? "Haltani"? Syndra says.
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"What?" Khardum snorts, sending a shower of frozen flakes from his mustache, "You haven't figured out she's Jadwiga yet? Obviously, she doesn't want us treating her differently."
He looks at Rerios' blue nose. "Faliana, you and your passenger might want to do something to put the vim back in his vigor."
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Syndra's act of kindness just happened to be when Faliana was trying to figure out her skis, and goes unnoticed. She then spends the first half-hour or so experimenting with them, feeling unexpectedly warm in her two out fits. During her time on the skis, she falls down twice but gets back up with no harm done. After a bit of this she lets Sasha take over and he gleefully, if with much less grace, zooms all over the place, running into snow drifts and falling over almost every five minutes. After an hour or so of this he finally gets bored with them and starts traveling with people peppering them with questions. He first slides in next to John and in a quick voice starts asking questions barely waiting for an answer before moving onto the next one. "So John, where are you from again? Actually, I don't think you ever said where you were from. What was it like? How was the weather, the people, the food? What religions are there in your town? Speaking of which, who's teachings do you follow? Do you like them? Are their teachings difficult? Relaxed? Why do you follow them? How do they feel about the undead? Have you ever met an undead? What kind? How many? Were they scary? How did you deal with them?"
After exhausting John he moves onto Khardum, and then Rerois. Each time the questions are often different and follow different patterns but for the most part touch upon their home town, their religious views and their experiences with the undead. He also seems ignorant of their discomfort in the cold.
Having run Khardum's ear off, he moves up next to Syndra he finally notices that she hasn't been wearing any warm clothing. A look of concern and worry mars his smile , before Faliana's much more tempered expression takes over, She glances at Syndra, herself and then looks at Khardum and Rerois, with their shivers and ice encrusted beard. She then looks Syndra in the eye again and gives an inquisitive quirk of the eyebrow. A few seconds later she breaks into a smile and says in a low voice, "Whatever you did, thank-you." Her face then moves as if everything was twitching at once and then Sasha's hurried voice comes out. "Thanks, but what did you do? Did you use one of your spells? Can you do this at any time? Was this something you could do from a young age? Speaking of which where did you grow up? Were there undead there?..." He then proceeds to slingshot questions her way much like he had the other Pathfinders in the group. When finished giving Syndra her hundred and one questions, he finally starts giving Haltani an earful.
When Khardum specifically points out Rerois and his blue nose, Faliana takes back over. Her face takes on an expression of sympathy. "We could try healing them, but unless we can get him and his horse out of the cold, there's very little we can do. Sasha only remembers how to incant a few spells, and, unless this weather is caused by an evil being, they won't have any effect." She then leans in closer and in a whisper continues, "Syndra might have something that can help, but I don't know if she would be willing to. And if you're really worried we could try breaking out some of the black fire clay."
As the group approaches the site they had been looking for, Sasha stops and Faliana's laid-back energy takes over for a few seconds. She listens for the sounds of potential enemies.
Hearing nothing she lets the young man take back over and explore the place openly gawking at the monoliths and various things before he finds an interesting ice wall. He points to it, unaware almost everyone else has seen it, and exclaims "Hey, Everyone! EVERYONE! There's something over here!"
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John listens as the group banters back and forth a bit, but is focused on figuring out the snowshoes and wrapping his clothes tightly. After the first little bit of shocking cold and slow movement his body gets into a steady cadence and he barely feels the chill. As Faliana comes over and starts chattering he manages to interject a few responses. ”I was born in Isger. It was an almost hopeless childhood. The people are hard and their spirits are broken. The ones in charge give nothing and expect everything. I made the choice to never break and learned how to either say the right thing or be strong enough to take the punishment. As to the culture or the gods, I can’t say I ever got to see a good enough side of it for me to care.” He pauses a moment thinking about the last string of questions, ”undead... hmmm. I’m much more concerned about the horrific things the living can do to other living beings.” Seeing that he has brought the mood down he smiles genuinely and claps Faliana on the back, ”but that is all in the past. Now I live in the city of life! All sorts of wonders abound! Maybe we can talk about it all later over a nice pint.”
John comes up to the rocky mound and looks intently through the small gap in his face coverings. As Khardum exclaims and smacks at the ice he moves over and pulls out the blackfire clay. Speaking loudly to be heard through thick layers of clothing, ”if no one objects I’ll give this stuff a go and see if we can melt a hole. I suggest we try it first and hopefully don’t damage anything to further annoy our host nation.”
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Rerois sighs at the spirits many questions. "I'm from Cheliax. It's quite a bit warmer there. I follow Asmodeus, as do most of my family, though my grandfather personally worshipped the Godclaw. The teachings of Asmodeus brought order to our country after the chaos of Pharasma's betrayal." He smiles a bit as he mentions his grandfather. "My grandfather was a Hellknight, Order of the Godclaw. Paracountess Dralneen still has some friends among the Orders, impressing her should get me my own invitation to join." The smile quickly fades to his usual thin line. "I have seen some undead, a few animated gillmen. I drove a pick into their skulls, as I would any enemy."
When they arrive at the hill, Rerois draws up, teeth chattering. "We should get out of this cold, it's only going to get worse."
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The dwarf continues. "Outside, the weather is like anywhere in Druma or on mountains. Temperate in the valleys, cold and snowy on the peaks. Quite the invigorating march up the stairs to the lookouts on the peaks. Food is as good as it comes because it's always made with love by your momma. Best forge work in the world, of course."
As the conversation transitions to religion, Khardum smiles in amusement. He pats the hammer carved with the iconography of Torag. "I worship the dwarven gods. Torag the Father, foremost, his son, Trudd the Brave, Folgrit the Mistress of the Hearth, Grundinnar the Peacemaker, Magrim and the rest. You can even find wisdom in the mistakes of Droskar the Impatient. Torag's teachings are not strict: the core principle is 'Do your best.' There's also a lot of ritual around our ancestors, but that wouldn't interest a human.
"If you're wondering why I left my wondrous home, I did so out of duty. The sky changes quickly, and the Father of Creation needs skywatchers to warn his people of coming dangers. So I watch. I also want to stop trouble before it becomes a threat to my people, when I can."
He arches a frosted eyebrow. "Undead? They are antithesis to Creation and we destroy them in defense of our families and in service to Magrim. I've never encountered such a thing, myself. Why do you ask?"
"If she can do something, what's she waiting for? His fingers to fall off?" Khardum asks Faliana, aghast, "I am worried! I'll see what I can do about shelter, but divine healing is especially useful for environmental injuries like frostbite: try that!"
Khardum starts to collect snow to fashion shelter. "In the meantime, someone break out the blackfire clay and get that tunnel open. Consider it a race to see who can provide shelter first."
The dwarf finds only ice and dry, powdery snow--useless for fashioning shelter--layered over the ice. "Shale!"
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Seeing John pull out the clay, and struggle with figuring out how it works, Syndra silently walks up to John taking the clay from him. "I gather none of you have spent any time studying the finer details of engineering? She arranges the clay in the most effective way to melt a hole in the ice. She tells the group "You amy want to stand back as the heat from this arrangement may get quite hot. Oh course, there's always the chance that I don't know what I'm talking about or doing, she snickers under her breath"
She pulls out her flint and steel and ignites the clay. Feeling the heat that it gives off, she watches it melt the ice.
"I wouldn't be surprised if the Baroness sent her spies out to keep an eye on us. With the lack of preparation leading to some of the group being frozen almost to the bone, I suspect that this would be a great time for an ambush. Maybe we should set a guard?" she says to nobody in particular.
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"I expect that we would be followed. Whether the spies act on their own or that of the baroness remaIns to be seen. But an ambush can come from many other sources. I do not expect you to understand this. Perhaps the rest of the group will heed my words, perhaps not." Syndra says as she draws and loads her crossbow and waits.